| Updated: September 26, 2025Roulette has achieved legendary status both on the casino floor and in popular culture. The Devil’s Wheel has captured the imagination of filmmakers and novelists alike, perpetuating its iconic status in film and literature over the years.
Indeed, the anticipation inherent in this game of chance has long served as a source of inspiration. Over the past two centuries, the now-iconic wheel has appeared in countless literary works, from classic novels to crime stories. The invention of motion pictures in the late 19th century further cemented roulette’s legendary status.
The game continues to appear in modern cinema and television; in fact, it is nearly impossible to find a gambling-related film without at least one scene where the spinning wheel takes center stage. To end this roulette guide on a lighter note, we present a glimpse into some of the most iconic film and literary tributes to this timeless yet ever-evolving game.
Roulette on the Silver Screen
Roulette is one of the oldest and most famous casino games in the world, so it’s no surprise that it has appeared on the silver screen many times. Some gambling-related films feature the game merely in the background, while in others roulette plays a key role in the plot.
Many filmmakers use the spinning wheel to build suspense and keep audience members on the edge of their seats. Viewers hold their breath as the ball circles the wheel until the scene finally culminates in a close-up of the winning number that decides the character’s fate.
With roulette, everything happens in plain sight, unlike card games such as poker or baccarat, which require multiple camera angles to follow. It’s easy to see why filmmakers turn to the wheel when they want maximum dramatic effect. We have selected three iconic motion pictures in which the legendary wheel takes center stage.
James Bond and His Famed Black 17 Bet
The Gaffed Wheel in Rick's Café Americain in Casablanca The Devil's Wheel in Mike Hodges' Croupier Several Honorable MentionsJames Bond and His Famed Black 17 Bet
Baccarat, poker, craps, roulette – you name it, the top agent of the British Crown has played them all. The suave spy is often shown strolling across lavish casino floors and beating the house at its own game.
What many movie buffs don’t realize is that roulette is Bond’s original game of choice, frequently featured in Ian Fleming’s 007 novels. The wheel made a legendary appearance in the seventh installment of the Bond series, Diamonds Are Forever from 1971.
The scenes were filmed at the roulette tables of Sin City’s Circus Circus Casino, with the opening credits showing Sean Connery slamming a villain’s head into a wheel. Later, Bond is already seated at the table and wins straight up with 17 black.
Ironically, Connery himself won big with the same number during a 1963 visit to the Casino de la Vallée Saint Vincent in Italy. He wagered an undisclosed amount on 17 black and lost twice in a row.
Connery persisted and bet on 17 again, which hit on the third spin. He let his winnings ride and hit 17 yet again.
Instead of quitting, the actor let it ride once more and scored a third consecutive win at astronomically small odds of 1 in 50,653. Connery walked away $27,000 richer – over $220,000 in today’s money.
It’s no wonder that 17 black has become the most commonly wagered individual number in roulette since then. Mike Ashley, the owner of Newcastle United, pocketed £1.3 million in 2008 by betting the maximum on 17 black, further boosting the number’s popularity.
The Gaffed Wheel in Rick's Café Americain in Casablanca
Roulette makes an iconic appearance in Casablanca, the timeless masterpiece starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman that earned three Academy Awards in 1943. The story takes us to Morocco in the early 1940s, where Bogart’s character, Rick Blaine, runs illicit gambling operations in his Café Americain.
One of the film’s most memorable scenes unfolds at the roulette table. A young Bulgarian couple, Annina and Jan, wager their life savings in hopes of winning enough money to buy visas that would allow them to flee to the United States.
After a string of losses, Rick approaches the table and loudly suggests that Jan bet on 22 black. The number hits, and Rick urges Jan and the croupier to stick with it. Predictably, it hits again because the wheel is gaffed. The win ends the couple’s financial struggles, and they secure passage to America.
The roulette table is pivotal in Casablanca because it marks Rick’s first selfless act since Ilsa (Bergman’s character) left him. The scene was later referenced in Lost in America (1985), where a married couple also bets on 22 black but loses everything to the wheel in Las Vegas’ Desert Inn Casino.
A similar streak occurs in the three-plot film Run Lola Run from 1998. The eponymous heroine Lola (played by Franka Potente) has 20 minutes to deliver 100,000 Deutsche Mark, or her boyfriend will be killed.
In one timeline, Lola visits a casino and places a 100-mark chip on 20 black. She wins straight up, lets it ride, and wins again with the same number, collecting 126,000 Deutsche Mark from her roulette exploits.
The Devil's Wheel in Mike Hodges' Croupier
Mike Hodges’ Croupier is widely regarded as one of the most iconic gambling films ever to hit the silver screen. As the title suggests, roulette features prominently in this 1998 neo-noir movie.
Well received by critics in both the UK and the USA, Croupier helped launch the career of actor Clive Owen, who later starred in Hollywood blockbusters such as The Bourne Identity and Children of Men.
The film follows struggling writer Jack Manfred (played by Owen), who takes a job as a croupier to make ends meet and to find inspiration for his book. Jack becomes entangled in the gambling world and ultimately plays a central role in a planned robbery of the casino where he works.
The impact of Croupier is undeniable. Few gambling movies succeed in recreating the atmosphere of the casino floor with such authenticity. The film offers some of the most realistic casino depictions ever captured on screen.
What makes Croupier unique is that it shows events from the perspective of a casino employee who confronts corruption and devastating losses on a daily basis. According to some critics, the film underscores the idea that life, like roulette, is a game of chance.
Several Honorable Mentions
The three films discussed above have achieved the status of timeless masterpieces, but roulette also appears in several other movies that deserve a mention. Below are our honorable mentions of roulette on the silver screen:
- The Sting (1973) with Paul Newman and Robert Redford, where 22 black hits on another gaffed wheel.
- Indecent Proposal (1993) starring Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson, in which a billionaire offers a man $1 million to spend a night with his wife. The roulette table is where the three main characters first meet.
- Havana (1990) with Lena Olin and Robert Redford, which follows a professional gambler (Redford) during his exploits in Cuba. Redford’s character, Jack, advises a woman at the roulette table to bet on red or black instead of straight-up numbers. When she asks whether this will improve her chances, he explains that she will still lose – just more slowly.
- Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine, where two con men play roulette while trying to scam a contest winner who they believe is a wealthy American heiress.
- High Stakes Roulette
- Low Limit Roulette
- Fibonacci Roulette System
- Parlay Roulette System
- Martingale Roulette System
- Inside Bets
- Outside Bets
- Roulette Rules
- Roulette Strategies
- American Roulette
- French Roulette
- European Roulette
- American and European Wheel Sequences
- Roulette – From a Perpetual Motion Machine to a Casino Landmark
- Roulette Basics and Rules of Table Conduct
- Roulette's Bet Types
- The French Roulette Layout
- Independent Trials, Odds, and Casino Edge in Roulette
- En Prison and La Partage
- Taking Your Roulette Game to the Next Level with Call Bets
- The Many Faces of Roulette – Interesting Variations to Try
- Progressive Roulette Systems
- Reading Biased Wheels and Other Predictive Methods
- The Master of the Wheel Gonzalo Garcia Pelayo
- Improving Your Roulette Game
- Dispelling Roulette Myths
- How to Protect a Roulette Bankroll
- Software Providers of Online Roulette
- Roulette Games with Progressive Jackpots
- Live Dealer Roulette
- Roulette Goes Mobile
Vice and Gambling Addiction in Dostoyevsky's The Gambler
“Is it really not possible to touch the gaming table without being instantly infected by superstition?”
“Now I felt like a winner and was afraid of nothing, of nothing in the world, as I plunked down four thousand on black.”
Quotes from The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
One of the most notable portrayals of roulette in literature comes from Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky, a stalwart of Russian letters. The literary giant was an avid roulette player, so much so that he lost a fortune to the game while battling a gambling addiction for nearly ten years.
Dostoyevsky recounts his exploits at the roulette tables in his 1866 short novel The Gambler. Ironically, he produced the entire work in just 26 days, driven by extreme pressure from his creditors. The plot is set in a fictitious German resort town aptly named Roulettenburg.
Dostoyevsky's Exploits in “Roulettenburg” Inside the Mind of a Compulsive GamblerDostoyevsky's Exploits in “Roulettenburg”
Literary scholars have yet to agree on which real-life German city inspired Roulettenburg. Some argue the book is based on Dostoyevsky’s gambling misfortunes at the roulette tables in Bad Homburg, while others believe the Spielbank Casino in Wiesbaden provided the setting for The Gambler.
Dostoyevsky played roulette in both cities. He first arrived in Wiesbaden in 1863 during a European trip with his mistress, Polina Suslova. In a letter to his brother Mikhail that September, Dostoyevsky confessed that his losses were so great he had to pawn his watch in Geneva. “Suddenly I started to lose, couldn’t control myself, and lost everything,” he wrote.
From that moment on, the novelist frequented casinos in Baden-Baden and Homburg until 1871, when his gambling compulsion began to subside. He played roulette with such frenzy that he was forced to recoup his losses through writing.
Dostoyevsky first outlined the idea for The Gambler in an 1866 letter to literary critic and publicist Nikolay Strakhov. He then entered a risky contract with publisher Fyodor Stellovsky, agreeing to deliver a novel within a very short period to pay off his gambling debts.
Had he failed, Stellovsky would have been entitled to publish Dostoyevsky’s works for the next nine years without paying him a ruble. Against all odds, Dostoyevsky finished The Gambler in less than a month with the help of his future wife, a stenographer who transcribed and copied the manuscript for him.
Inside the Mind of a Compulsive Gambler
Many biographical parallels exist between Dostoyevsky’s real-life roulette escapades and The Gambler. The short novel tells the story of a young tutor, Alexei Ivanovich, who works for the family of a debt-ridden Russian General. Alexei is infatuated with the General’s cruel niece, Polina.
To impress her, he visits a local German casino, tries to win at roulette, and plans to give the money to Polina so the General can pay off his debts. In a dramatic turn of events, Alexei becomes trapped in an endless cycle of gambling and loss. His obsession is intensified by his longing for the heartless Polina.
With The Gambler, Dostoyevsky created one of the most striking works of Russian literature, while also granting readers an unflinching look into the mind of a compulsive gambler.